February 14, 2009: Bolt
Bolt is the “other” movie nominated for Best Animated Feature of 2008. Wall-E (Pixar) and Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks) fill the standard slots, and this is the wildcard. Bolt was FAR better than that wildcard movie tends to be, which is a step ahead of the usual for me.
The story concerns a dog who is the star of a TV show, along with the little girl who owns him. The effects and stunts in the show are performed such that Bolt doesn’t even know that he’s on a TV show and has never left the set of the show in his life, an artistic decision in order to keep his acting and expressions believable. When an unfortunate incident causes him to escape from the set and get accidentally sent across the country, he needs to contend with making his way in the outside world for the first time as he tries to find his way back. A friendly hamster and not-so-friendly cat encountered along the way make for an animated Incredible Journey for the 21st century. I won’t spoil the movie by saying whether or not they make it back safely.
I will, however, point out that a late conflict between Bolt and the cat seriously detracted from the story. It’s forgivable since there was no other way to approach it, but it emphasized the predictable and awkward parts of the movie. Presumably professional screenwriters put more than the 10 minutes’ worth of thought into it than I have, and might be expected to come up with a more smoothly integrated story.
John Travolta provides the voice work for Bolt, and does so with ease. Travolta’s expressive voice was used 20 years ago for the baby in Look Who’s Talking!, so he’s familiar with this type of work, although it’s surprising he hasn’t done more animated work. Susie Essman is an underrated comedienne who provides the voice of the not-so-friendly cat.
The film parodies elements of Hollywood production in a way that is coming to be well-accepted these days, and it’s a fun way to provide humour for the adult audience and also something the older kids will start to understand in this media-saturated age. Tropic Thunder did the same thing recently.
This is a Disney animated film, which would explain the depth of the story and the fun for both kids and adults. Say what you will about the big conglomerate, but even when filtered through the corporate processing of this day and age, Disney still puts out good children’s entertainment which remains palatable for adults. I saw this with my wife and son on a Saturday afternoon (as did a number of other families), and I was not disappointed. There are of course the expected weaknesses around predictability and simplified characters, but that’s totally expected and not out of place.
Animated fun, not Pixar, but worthwhile.
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